The field of remote sensing is growing rapidly. Remote sensing has been found to be useful in security applications, as well as for monitoring environmental, commercial and industrial processes. It has also proved useful in modern social networks, allowing users to conveniently see each other during chat sessions, and allow family members to share a more intimate online experience. Remote sensing may include capturing visible light images, temperature, vibrations, seismic, infrared images, chemical or acoustic data. The remote data is either stored locally for later collection, or more typically is transmitted via a wired or wireless connection to a data collection point. One popular remote sensor is the Internet camera. It will be understood that many other different types of sensors and sensor devices are available.
An Internet camera typically has a visible light sensor (such as a CMOS or CCD imager), and a connection to a local server or other host. The data connection may be wired or wireless. The Internet camera, similar to many types of sensor systems, uses a substantial amount of power. For example, the sensor itself may be a drain, as well as a local processor and memory system. Also, if the Internet camera uses a wireless communication connection, then radio transmitter and receiver each are significant power users. Because an Internet camera uses a substantial amount of power, the Internet camera needs an enduring power source. For example, the Internet camera may use a power adapter connected to grid power, or, if it uses a wired data link, may extract power from the data connection. In another example, the Internet camera may be constructed to allow for recharging of batteries, or for regular battery replacement. In a specific example, some digital cameras are known to have a Bluetooth compatible local connection. These digital cameras may be used to take an image, and then, the user is allowed to establish a wireless communication for moving the pictures to the computer. However, the digital camera has batteries that must be regularly replaced, or recharged. In this way, the digital camera is not practical for any meaningful long-term monitoring or security applications.
Because the Internet camera needs enduring power, its placement options are limited. Take for example a security installation. It would be desirable to place Internet cameras in discreet, out-of-the-way locations, and to have multiple cameras imaging a target area. However, these discreet locations are often difficult to physically get to, and do not have ready power sources. Accordingly, either 1) the discreet locations must be wired for power, or 2) the cameras must regularly be accessed for battery replacement. Either option is costly, and disruptive of the target area.
It is also desirable that sensors be able to take detailed and high resolution data, and communicate that data to a central location. In this regard, some sensors, such as the Internet camera, generate very large data or image files. Transmitting these large files may take substantial power, particularly in a wireless installation. It may be possible to save power by reducing the size of the image file, but important resolution and in detail may also be lost.
To further enhance usability and resolution, some cameras are equipped with an optical zoom system. The optical zoom comprises a moveable lens system that allows a user to focus on a smaller section of the field of view, and to increase visible detail and resolution in that selected area. Because of the way it operates, the selected area is always centered at a fixed center area of the camera axis line, limiting the utility of the device. In order to focus on others areas, the camera must be moved, either by hand or by sophisticated motor control. If the camera is intended to be remote from the user, then any zooming must be done using electric motors couple to the lens systems. Such systems use considerable power, are expensive to implement, and subject to frequent and inconvenient repair. Accordingly, the use of a true optical zoom has been limited to higher end cameras and sensing devices, and not to webcams or other lower-end imaging devices.
Due to the complexities and expense of the true optical zoom, many commercial imaging devices rely upon the less desirable digital zoom process. In a digital zoom, the camera device captures and stores an entire image captured from an imager, and will typically display the image onto a display device. As the user selects higher levels of digital zoom, the imager still captures the entire image file, but the file is post-processed to extract a decreasingly small area in the center of the image, and that limited data is diluted to occupy the whole display screen. In this way, each level of increased digital zoom acts to dilute the image more as it appears in the display. In use, this appears to the user as the undesirable effect of having the image lose resolution as the digital zoom is advanced. Not only does the digital zoom device necessarily operate on large image files, which need larger processors, memories, and consume considerable power, but in practice the digital zoom is seldom used due its lack of aesthetic appeal.
According, there is a need for an imager system that can be installed without the need to run power or data cables, and that is able to accommodate an aesthetically pleasing low-power magnification process.